YOUR HOME

YOUR HOME; New Jersey Well-Water Testing

By JAY ROMANO

Published: October 27, 2002

UNDER a law that took effect last month, homeowners in New Jersey who rely on private wells for their drinking water must have the wells tested for contamination before they can sell their property.

The law will ultimately affect rented premises as well, and it is estimated that 20,000 to 30,000 real estate transactions each year could trigger the required tests in New Jersey.

According to Kathleen Bird, the director of communications for the state's Department of Environmental Protection, the new law -- called the Private Well Testing Act -- requires that tests of private drinking water wells must be conducted by a laboratory certified by the department.

The tests -- which are estimated to cost $450 to $600 -- must be conducted before the closing, and both buyer and seller must certify in writing that the tests were performed and that they had been notified of the results. Testing is required for any residential real estate transaction for which contracts were signed on or after Sept. 14, the effective date of the law.

And while the law currently applies only to properties that are being sold, Ms. Bird said, it also provides that landlords who rent out property with drinking water supplied by private wells must have those wells tested by March 14, 2004, and the results must be provided to rental tenants within 30 days after they are received. Landlords must also provide the test results to each new tenant and retest the well every five years.

Ms. Bird pointed out that the law does not specify who is to pay for the test and does not require sellers whose test results indicate contamination to take any remedial action. ''If pollution is found in the well water,'' Ms. Bird said, ''the buyer and the seller are free to negotiate a remedy if one is desired.''

Harvey Klein, lab director for Garden State Laboratories in Hillside, N.J., and a member of the state's Environmental Laboratory Advisory Committee, said the tests required by the law are fairly comprehensive and generally go well beyond the tests typically performed by a buyer before purchasing a property served by a private drinking well.

''Before this law took effect, it was up to the buyer to determine what tests had to be run,'' Mr. Klein said. ''And, quite frankly, the average prospective homeowner had no idea what to test for.''

Under the law, he said, the well must be tested for a number of contaminants and characteristics, including bacteria, pH, nitrates, iron, manganese, lead and any volatile organic compounds for which maximum contaminant levels have been established by state regulation.

Mr. Klein said that when a certified lab tests drinking water, it must conduct an array of tests intended to identify different types of contamination. The first test, he said, is to determine the pH level.

''The pH test is important,'' Mr. Klein said, explaining that while the pH level -- which is a measurement of the acidity or alkalinity of the water -- is considered a ''secondary characteristic,'' that is, one that is primarily aesthetic, it can have an effect on the plumbing in the house.

''If the water is too acidic, it can corrode your pipes,'' he said. ''And if it's too alkaline, it can create scaling on the inside of the pipes.'' In addition, Mr. Klein said, if the pH is too low -- very acidic -- heavy metals like lead can leach out of the pipes and contaminate the drinking water.

''The pH test must be run in the field because the sample has to be analyzed within 15 minutes,'' he said, adding that the person conducting the pH test must be an employee of a state-certified lab.

After the pH test is performed in the field, the remaining tests are performed in the laboratory, and the most common, Mr. Klein said, is for bacteria in the water.

''There should be no coliform bacteria in drinking water,'' he said, adding that if such bacteria is found, additional testing is performed to determine if there is any E. coli bacteria -- a type of bacteria that indicates fecal contamination of the well. If E. coli is found, Mr. Klein said, the lab will report this information to the person who requested the sample, usually the homeowner, and to the local health agency.

Iron and manganese are also considered secondary characteristics. ''If you have high iron, your laundry will have a reddish appearance,'' Mr. Klein said. ''And high manganese causes blackish stains.''

Nitrates -- which are naturally occurring substances but which can also be caused by leaching of fertilizer into the water supply -- are considered primary contaminants. ''A nitrate result above 10 parts per million could be a problem for infants and pregnant women,'' he said.

Lead in drinking water, Mr. Klein said, often comes from lead pipes, lead-based solder and brass fittings and fixtures used in plumbing. As a result, he said, while the most common test for lead would be conducted using a ''first flush'' sampling -- that is, a sample consisting of water that has been sitting in the pipes overnight -- the new law requires the tester to flush the lines for two minutes before taking a sample.

''The idea is to test the quality of the water in the well as opposed to the water in the plumbing,'' he said, adding that the tester is also required to take a ''raw sample'' of the well water. In other words, if there is a treatment system in place, the sample must be taken before the water goes through treatment.

Another test required by the law is a measurement of volatile organic compounds in the well water.

Rob Barrett, chief executive of Aqua Pro-Tech Labs, a water testing lab in Fairfield, N.J., said that while most labs can test for several dozen such compounds, the law requires measurements of 26 different contaminants.

Volatile organic compounds, Mr. Barrett said, are industrial chemicals and fuel-related compounds that in certain concentrations may cause adverse health effects. Among the compounds that must be tested for are benzene, carbon tetrachloride, toluene, trichloroethelene and methyl tertiary butyl ether, a gasoline additive known as M.T.B.E.

Such chemicals can find their way into the water supply as a result of leaking oil, gasoline or chemical storage tanks or as a result of improper disposal of the substance.

Even minute concentrations of such chemicals, Mr. Barrett said, pose a potential health risk. The maximum acceptable contaminant level of M.T.B.E., for example, is 70 parts per billion. The limit for trichloroethylene, a chemical used in industrial degreasing, is 1 part per billion.

Mr. Barrett pointed out that depending on the location of the property, the law may also require testing for arsenic and mercury. Generally speaking, he said, private drinking water wells on properties in the southern part of the state must be tested for mercury. And wells in the northern part of the state, excluding Sussex and Warren Counties, must be tested for arsenic. Testing for ''gross alpha particle activity'' -- which includes measurement of radionuclides like radium and uranium -- will be phased in over the next 18 months in 12 counties.

Finally, Mr. Barrett said, a technician conducting the test must use a ''mapping grade'' Global Positioning System device to identify the precise location of the well being tested. That information is then relayed electronically to the state Department of Environmental Protection along with the laboratory analysis of the water.